February 15, 2017

Our Valentine's Day was filled with my favorite kind of plans, low key. We had lunch with Nic at his office and Liam and I spent most of the day just relaxing.

He has been such a trooper this winter being cooped up inside when he would rather spend every day of his life outside so I wanted to do something special for him to make the next few weeks a little more fun before (hopefully!) spring finds us! I took him to his favorite section of any store and let him pick out a new toy. It came at no surprise that he chose a tractor! It has buttons that lift it's bucket and make it move forward and backward. He loves it! Honestly, I would give him the world if it meant I got to see this smile every second of every day ...

When Nic got home from work he came walking through the door with this beautiful bouquet of pink and red roses! Such a lucky girl! They make the day after Valentine's Day just as sweet with the most beautiful view.

We exchanged Valentines and I made these ones for my two boys who I love "beary" much ...

Liam's card that he made for his dada (who, as I've mentioned, he calls "D") was my favorite! LOTS of stickers went into the making of that card.

His favorite part of his gift, a bear filled with m&m's ...

"Let's open it RIGHT NOW dad!"

"And I could care less about that new shirt, mom." haha

Nic also got me a beautiful dress that I can't wait to wear in the spring and summer time when it gets a bit warmer!

My face is completely out of focus in this next picture but I had to share it anyway because it was the only one we took as a whole family that day. Liam showing off his belly right before dinner is pretty cute too. ;)

Keeping up with tradition, we had tortellini for dinner and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert!

Later in the evening Nic and I played the Newlywed Game together where a question was posed (what's your spouse's biggest pet peeve for example) and answered them for each other to see how much we really know about each other after 6 1/2 years together. It was really fun and while I think we both did pretty great at it, we definitely still learned something new about each other! Like my mom and dad's middle names for Nic and his eccentric taste in music for me. I also loved his answer when I asked, "What is your spouse's favorite meal that you make?" and he turned to me and said, "Uh, I only cook like 2 things." haha That was a pretty easy answer for him. ;)

It was a really good day and the truth is, I would have been happy no matter what we were doing because I got to spend it with my two favorite people in this world who I love so much! Hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day with the ones you love! XO

February 13, 2017

In just about every stage of development Liam has taken off so far and there is nothing that makes Nic and I feel more proud than watching him master and accomplish something new! We've clapped and cheered him on through so many milestones and with every new stage I knew he would learn at his own pace. Talking and communication for Liam however is a skill that has been a bit slower to develop. Right around 18 months old he started saying a handful of words (yes, no, mama, dada, bubble) and I anticipated his vocabulary to kind of grow from there. As the months went by and we approached his second birthday it was obvious that little mister stubborn had no interest in mimicking new words. He had stopped using the world bubble during bath time and no longer called me "mama" and Nic "dada". Instead we've both adopted the name "D". haha

I remember taking Liam to the library and this little girl toddled up to me and started jabbering away ... "chair", "book", etc. and it was the first time that I felt myself beginning to compare. I still 100% believed Liam would talk in his own time but I felt that maybe there were skills that I could learn to help him become more interested in communicating with me. As his mom, I obviously know what he wants when he points to things or pulls me by the hand to show me but I wanted to make sure I was preparing him in any way I could for when he would need to communicate his needs to others, like when he starts preschool next year for example.

So with that long introduction, for the last couple of months we've had a speech pathologist come into our home once a week and work with Liam and I. In just those few shorts weeks I have already seen Liam grow so much!!! I thought I would share a few new things that have been coming from this cute cheesy grin ... ;)

The second we walk in the door from outside he yells, "SHOES", because he knows the first thing we do is take them off.

His teacher has taught us that language begins with imitating sounds of things first and he has become sooo animated with his trains, tractors, trucks, and cars lately. I need to catch it on video sometime! He has learned just about every single animal sound with my favorites being "blub, blub, blub" for a fish, a scrunched up sniffing nose for a pig, and a very adorable throat clearing "eh, eh, eh" for a sheep. haha

He is quick to say "I want more!" the second he finishes any treat and says "dat (that) way" when he wants something from a different room than the one we are in.

I know in no time at all he will be talking my ear off and I probably won't ever get him to stop. ;) And I'll love every single second of it just as I do all of these adorable animal sounds he is making right now.

And to wrap this up in true Liam fashion lately, picking his nose for you! haha